I’m just going to start this by saying, let’s hope for everyone’s sake that the Wallabies win this Lions series.
Like many of us I have reached my personal threshold of vitriol and violence in the season finale of Game of Thrones, it can wait another year. Heaven help us that this sentiment has continued in the media given the nature of the Wallabies’ selections.
The third estate of society is the sporting institutions that surround us; it similarly tracks along political lines.
The Super Rugby franchises represent the respective states and the Wallabies represent all of us. Everyone has his or her vote and beliefs, however it doesn’t necessarily mean that we all agree, or that either one of us a right.
Before the Rugby World Cup in 2011 Graham Henry publicly stated that only Quade Cooper could stop the All Blacks. Robbie took the bait and the rest is history; Sir Graham had the last laugh in the end.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me – it is unlikely that Robbie is going to be goaded into the same mistake again.
The mind games have already begun. It’s easy for the Lions et al to politic similar opinions at this point in time.
If the Lions win the series, they can largely attribute that to not picking Quade. iI they can manage to lure and bait the Wallabies into playing him they have a greater chance of winning because they can capitalise on the deficiencies in his game.
It’s even easier for the incumbent Ewen McKenzie to take pot-shots afar and defend Quade and the Reds. After all it was the two of them that played a great hand in turning the Reds’ fortunes around. They may have presented a platform to win, but they still didn’t get the bacon.
Catch 22.
This Lions series is not about doing the right things; it’s about doing things right. Robbie Deans has picked a squad to do a job, and it is purely to win.
The reality is that Test match rugby is about the percentages. The mistake that in the first five minutes of a match might cost you an inch, later could cost you a penalty and the match.
Sometimes harsh truths need to be spoken; Quade just doesn’t cut it at the top level. If you were to compare the world’s best, there is daylight between Dan Carter and Quade Cooper.
The likes of Pat McCabe, Berrick Barnes, Ben Robinson, James Horwill, Genia, Ashley-Cooper are worth their weight in gold in a Wallabies jersey.
Given the hullaballoo of Quade’s axing, the likes of O’Connor, Joe Tomane and Christian Lealiifano are flying under the radar. They have that X-factor that the Lions camp fear and are are certainly capable of stepping it up a gear come game day.
Let’s just wait and see if the Robbie gets the last laugh this time, after all the war is turning to the north; Winter is Coming.
Jereme Lane
Roar Guru
yep sorry alex got to agree with barney! your opinion is not shared by kafer, dwyer, jones, gregan, horan....
Huw Bowen
Guest
Not silly at all, just the facts! QC is like a good England county cricketer who when picked for England just can't quite make the step up that's required. Doesn't make him a bad player, just that his take on the game doesn't cut it at the very top. Mind you that's maybe sad for the game at the very top as I love watching him hop about then either do something briliant or nearly put team mate in hospital!
Malo
Guest
Mania agree Mehrtens was the man I put up there with Carter
Marlin of the Sea
Guest
Berrick Barnes is worth his weight in gold? Gold did you say mate? He looks like a nice bloke - esp since he lost his porn star mo (I digress) but i'd rather watch QC (or Campo) throw a couple of dodgy passes to Mr. Nobody or have a kick charged down than to watch BB kick it out on the full from the kick-off again, or kick it mindlessly from his own half, or kick it mindlessly because he can't unlock the defense...put in a stupid grubber...in fact all I can remember him doing is KICK the ball - ok he played alright against Wales but he's soooo boring...give me the thrill of a madman anytime...
niwdeyaj
Guest
Agree AndyS. I'm a QC fan but there is no way I'd want him on for the full 80. My preference would be to bring him on in the first 20-30mins and get him playing the wide game he used to run the Lions around in Brisbane - some of those sublime long passes would have turned into tries if they had hit Folau/Digby/AAC/JOC on the chest instead of Faingaa! The problem with Cooper is he gets a bit excited when things are going well, so that's the time I'd switch him (either off or to the wing) for Berrick or Toomua (don't believe in JOC as a 5/8). This would shift the style significantly - a Lions ambush!
niwdeyaj
Guest
name one game QC has "butchered" to the extent it single-handedly cost the wallabies the game? I can name one that Beale butchered far more than anything QC has ever done, and yet he walks straight into the team while still under alcohol related rehab! face it, this has NOTHING to do with whether QC is good enough and everything to do with a grudge held by Deans... THAT is the issue.
AndyS
Guest
What I find a little amazing is that the Wallabies - the team that compriss the premier players in the country - can only grasp and execute a single game plan. It is implicitly assumed that we can only have one 10 so it is Quade v all the alternatives. Not sure why...as Alex notes, the consequences differ as the game goes on. If you want to take chances and play the risk/reward game, it doesn't have to be for the whole 80 minutes.
Hoy
Roar Guru
I will see both your blokes lament about New Zealand losing, and raise you my lament that Mortlock's intercept kept Eddie Jones in the Wallabies driving seat for another 2 years. About 4 longer than he should have had.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
They were able to pressure Spencer because our forwards got smashed. They smashed the crap out of Justin Marshall too. We just got smashed all round. The Carlos intercept was annoying because it was a 14 point swing, but from memory it happened early in the game. It was a long, slow, grinding loss. One of the worst losses I can remember enduring because they smothered us and it just went on and on. Carlos tried his hardest to claw us back into that game, though. Cooper gets praised for being safe under the high ball in the second half of the Eden Park semi, but Carlos was far more involved than that.
mania
Guest
fog nothing u say will convince me that carlos was better than merhtens. i'm am thru and thru a merhtens fan. carlos relied on tricks, merhtens relied on doing the basics well. the semi performance 2003 was carlos' fault, though it was mainly due to a superior game plan by the WBs. read larkhams book and in it he states that they knew that if they pressured carlos all day it would negate the ABs backs.
Fog
Guest
That year, Mania, Mehrtens was a clear second to Spencer in the Super comp and Spencer could hardly be dropped after his great performances in the Tri-Nations. Great player though he is I have seen Dan Carter make plenty of mistakes in tests that have cost tries, including charge downs and interceptions. The performance in the semi in 2003 was far more a reflection on the team than the 10. Although I suspect if Umaga had played at centre Mortlock would have been flat on his back as soon as he caught the pass or Tana would have run the right angle to catch it.
Harold
Guest
Can't we move on? Guess not, so lets try flipping it - right, there's no QC (or Toomua) for the Walls v the Lions. Can someone - Alex please - coherently and convincingly explain or debate just how the Wallabies will play, and what player will be at 10 to be a crucial cog in successfully executing this strategy. Will it be Bieber? Or Berrick? Or Kurtley? Or Leoliifano? What attributes will they need to bring to the game and deliver on? This is crucial if the Wallabies are going to win the series. Presumably its all coming together on the training field and will make sense to us all on June 22 in Brissy. Deans indicates that he favours JOC - lets see.
rae1
Guest
I do not think this is a "I dont like QC " article at all.I think you are right on the money Alex.QC for all his brilliance and attacking ability can also butcher a game.It seems his ability increases or decreases depending on the opposition,and as a kiwi I remember thinking if QC looked up to and mimicked Carlos Spencers play this may not be beneficial to his career.This is purely because Carlos was a liability every time he ran on the field.I would think "Is he going to be brilliant today"?or is he going to be rubbish"?seems QC is also going down the same route.Do I think he should be out of the 30? NO! however I do think he would have been a great impact player.
Rebel
Guest
+1 it's Groundhog Day. Getting sick of waking up to Sonny and Cher.
Jonny Boy Jnr
Guest
Terrible column Alex. Go back to watching 'Game of Thrones' because you clearly know little about rugby. You may as well have written "I don't like Quade Cooper" before inserting "The End".
Adsa
Guest
Hopefully the last of the QC articles for a while and we can move onto the 1st test.
maxxlord
Roar Rookie
Man, this article reeks of desperation. I suppose it is better to write it now than after Deans and yourself are humiliated. There is no "masterplan" hey
mania
Guest
amen to that colvin - he shoulda had mehrtens on.
colvin
Guest
I suspect Robbie learnt a big lesson way back in 2003 when Carlos Spenser, a brilliant but mistake prone first five, fired a cut out pass, against instructions, right into the hands of the WB centre and lost the World Cup semi final.
Barney
Guest
What a silly thing to say "qc doesn't cut it at the top level" . The likes of many prominent former great wallabies & ex wallabies coaches & prominent members of the current wallabies (will genia) totally disagree with you big time !!!,